Short-term research training support is requested for ten students recruited from schools and colleges of optometry to a three-month summer rotation at The Ohio State University College of Optometry .The goal of the training program is to encourage students to embark on a career in eye research. The training will be conducted in the laboratories of 20 well-established eye and vision researchers, primarily members of the College of Optometry but with representation from the Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Ophthalmology, Psychology, and Veterinary Medicine. The research expertise of the faculty mentors can be divided into three clearly identifiable program areas: ocular epidemiology, biological sciences, and visual perception. This critical mass of vision researchers possess nearly 20 current National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation research grants between them and includes 14 National Eye Institute grantees. Collectively, the mentors are currently training over 30 enrolled graduate students. The majority of mentors are members of the Graduate Program in Vision Science which was established over 50 years ago and has since trained more than 140 graduate students. Trainees will participate for three months on a full-time basis during the summer following their first year of optometry training. The Training Program will include regular seminars and participation in the ongoing research in an assigned mentor's laboratory. Recruitment will be directed at students at all schools and colleges in the United States with particular emphasis on the recruitment of minority students [unreadable] [unreadable]